Tigers beat Aces, clinch No. 8 spot in wildcard

MANILA, Philippines – James Penny and Asi Taulava combined for more than half of the Tigers’ total output in scoring and in rebounds as Coca-Cola held back Alaska 81-74 and clinched the No. 8 spot going into the wild card phase of the Motolite PBA Fiesta Conference at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Penny collected 29 points and 16 rebounds, and Taulava performed like an import himself with 18 markers and 18 rebounds in powering the Tigers to a badly-needed win that avoided a twice-to-beat disadvantage in the next round against Burger King. RJ Rizada added a career-high 11 points for Coca-Cola, which after three successive games, won’t see action until Friday against the fifth-seeded Sta. Lucia Realtors in a knockout match to determine which team makes it to the best-of-3 quarterfinals. “We turned the negative into a positive," said Tigers’ coach Kenneth Duremdes, referring no less to the 37-point loss (122-85) his team absorbed against defending champion Ginebra last Wednesday. “The only way na mawawala yung pagakatalo na ‘yun sa mga supporters namin is for us to give it our best in this crucial game." Willie Miller scored 17 and Tony De La Cruz contributed 16 for Alaska, which obviously did not play with the same spunk as when it beat Ginebra last Friday. The numbers said it all: the Aces got outrebounded big time, 64-48, had more turnovers, 22-16, and only converted three free throws the entire game, missing 8 of their 11 attempts for a horrible 27.3 percent shooting clip. Not only that, Alaska also forgot to box out, allowing Coca-Cola to get away with 27 offensive rebounds – 15 coming from Penny and Taulava combined. As a result, Alaska never got into a rhythm. Even Rossell Ellis was far from his element, merely finishing with 13 points and 9 rebounds. From the moment Coca-Cola broke loose nearing halftime, it never relinquished the lead. The largest lead the Tigers claimed was at 14 points (56-42) on a completed three-point play from Taulava with 3:00 left in the third period. –GMANews.TV